Imaginary Friends
by hotchocolatyninja
Summary: Arthur Kirkland is an exchange student who came to America from England. He talks to what other people might call "imaginary friends." But he knows they're real. ALL of them. Right? ((I'm sorry if the characters seem OOC))
1. Chapter 1

No one knows exactly what went on in Arthur's head. No one cared to know. He was just an exchange student from England who still has imaginary friends. Some rumors had spread about him and what exactly it is he talks to.

"Did you hear? Arthur can talk to the dead. They say he sees ghosts and guides them to the other side."

"Really? I heard that someone in his family died and that he copes by _pretending_ to be able to talk to ghosts."

"I heard the same thing only instead of spirits they were weird made up creatures. Flying Mint Bunny was one of them, I think."

Arthur was never not the topic of a conversation in the halls. People would always talk _about_ him and never _to_ him. They were all scared. Scared of the truth.

"I hear he leaves school during lunch and goes down to the basement to perform _black magic_."

"I heard that he goes behind the school to smoke weed."

"What? He doesn't even look like a druggy!"

"You never know what the the power of makeup can do."

All these rumors surfaced about a month or so after he came to America and started high school.

"Why can't people just understand?" Arthur cried to himself. "They're real."

"Don't cry, Arthur. They just won't understand. They don't have the special powers you do." Flying Mint Bunny popped up and flew around him.

"I don't want it. I want... friends. Like, _human_ friends."

"Are you saying you don't want us anymore?" FMB stopped flying around and landed in Arthur's lap looking sad.

"I... I'm not saying that. I just don't want to be viewed as completely bonkers by the whole school." Arthur explained getting up from his seat.

The library he sits in during lunch is always empty. Or at least at that time. No one knows he goes there to get away from all the judgmental eyes that would stare him down if he even dared to enter the lunch room. He sits there till the bell rings and 7th period starts. Because the class is so far away he ends up being late to his class and that's why they thought up those rumors. Because he's always late to 7th period.

When the bell would sound for everyone to leave. Arthur learned that it was best to be the first one to leave. Before the bell would even go off he would get his things ready. What needed to go in his locker and what needed to go in his bag. Right when the bell ring he got up and ran. Quickly getting to his locker and throwing the books in there. But, _his_ classroom is right next to Arthur's locker.

"Well, well, well, look at the weirdo with a beard-o." Asshole A said

"I don't have a beard." Arthur corrected him. "Smart ass..." He muttered under his breath

"Shut up! It was the only thing I thought of that rhymed." Asshole A pushed Arthur into the locker while Asshole B laughed and started recording it.

Arthur wanted nothing more than to beat the ever loving shit out of him but he was too afraid that he would get caught beating up the Assholes instead of the other way around. It's happened many times before with more minor issues but he still couldn't take the chance. The teachers and the principal don't take "it was self defense" as an excuse. A crowd formed so a teacher must see... right?

Arthur didn't do anything while Asshole A was pummeling him. A teacher finally showed up and got Asshole A off of Arthur. They were both dragged to the principals office. Asshole A got a week of suspension because it was the first time he was caught doing that. If it happened again he would get expelled. Asshole B just got 3 days of detention and his phone taken away by his parents though. He didn't really do anything other than watch.

"About fucking time." Arthur said getting up and wiping the blood off his face.

All the people dispersed so they can go hang out. It was a Friday after all. Arthur just scurried home, however. Home was the complete opposite of school. While school was a constant avoidance from Arthur, home was a constant avoidance from others. It's not because anything bad is happening at home it's just that his family is overly obsessed and overly protective of him.

If he came home all bloodied and looking like hell then his parents will first fix him up and then find the person who did this and practically kill them. They'll be so messed up they will wish they were dead and he doesn't want that. So he waits. He waits until his parents leave and then sneak in so he doesn't catch the attention of his brothers. They're tattle-tales.

If his parents ask where he is he'll simply reply at a friends house. He doesn't want his parents knowing about the happenings at school so he lies to them.

After he sneaks by his brothers he goes to the bathroom to fix up his wounds. Luckily they aren't that bad. He can just cover it with makeup. They'll never know.

* * *

I know It's short but this is only the beginning so calm down. ((Also I fixed this chapter so it's slightly different but it's still the same. So yeah...))


	2. Chapter 2

School is always the same for Arthur. Day after day. But it seemed better when that asshole was suspended. It only lasted a week, though, a week was all he needed.

The Monday after the bully was expelled the gossip got worse.

Looking around the third period class, Arthur sighed.

"Hey, you look bummed out. Are... you okay?" An unfamiliar voice sounded. Arthur was confused. Surely he remembered everyone's voice by now as he always hears them talking.

Arthur looked to where the voice was coming from. He furrowed his eyebrows. A new student. It's amazing how he isn't avoiding Arthur because surely people have already told him to stay away from "the weirdo with imaginary friends." Though he did look quite fetching. Blonde hair. Bright blue eyes. Dorky glasses. How is he not covered in ladies already?

"Uh, hello? Earth to bushy brows." The new kid waved his hand in front of Arthur's face. Arthur blinked a few times. It would appear he started dozing off.

"H-hi." Arthur said quietly.

"My name is Alfred F. Jones!" He said enthusiastically. "What's yours?"

"A-Arthur."

"Is this seat taken?" Alfred asked pointing to the one next to him.

"No."

"Great." Alfred sat down next to Arthur. Which only confused him more.

 _Who is this guy and why does he actually want to sit next to me?_ Arthur thought. He couldn't help but stare at Alfred.

"Hey, Arthur, who is this? A friend?" One of the fairies asked. Arthur went wide eyed and frantically shook his head no. He eyed everyone to see if they were looking and gave the fairy a look that said 'you shouldn't be here.' The fairy rolled her eyes and flew away.

As the teacher droned on Arthur couldn't help but wonder why the teacher hadn't announced the fact that they had a new student. He decided to ask Alfred that later. Before he knew it the bell rang for the next class. Arthur was still gathering up his things as everyone scurried out of the classroom. Except for Alfred who stayed behind to wait for Arthur.

"Why did you wait for me?" Arthur asked standing up. They both started walking out of the classroom together.

"Because I want to know what class you have next. It might be the same one as mine." Alfred replied excitedly.

"Chemistry."

"Me too!"

"Oh and also... Why didn't the teacher introduce you to the class?" Arthur asked.

"Huh?" Alfred was silent for a moment thinking. "Oh! I had asked all my teachers to not introduce me."

"Why?" Arthur didn't know why exactly he kept questioning Alfred.

Part of him wanted to push Alfred away because of _last_ time but he also wanted to hold on to him. To grab Alfred and never let go because this is the first time in a long time that someone has actually talked to him. He was happy about it but he knew it was a trick. He knew someone fooled the new kid and fooled Arthur. Arthur knew what he had to do to avoid being humiliated again. Push Alfred away.

"You know what? Never mind." Arthur said. He stared down at his feet and continued walking to the next class.

There were several times when Alfred tried to ask a question or start a conversation but every time he was ignored by Arthur.

Pretty soon it was lunch time and Arthur hurriedly walked to the library. There is no running in the halls you know. Much to his dismay Alfred followed.

"Why are you following me?" Arthur sternly asked.

"Because I have no one else to talk to."

Arthur was taken aback by this. _This guy? Has no one else to talk to? Guess you can't judge a boo- wait he could be lying._ Arthur looked around.

"What are you looking for. I could help you look! I am a hero after all."

Arthur looked disgustedly at Alfred. "You smug asshole." He muttered.

"What?"

"N-nothing." Arthur stuttered. "Are you..." he hesitated a moment. "Are you trying to humiliate me because if you are I'll have you know that it happened once before and it won't ever happen again and **that** you can count on. Do I make myself clear?"

Alfred cocked his head. "Dude what are you talking about? Humiliate you? Why would I do that?"

"Who do you think you are trying to fool here with that innocent act of yours?"

"No one?"

Arthur scoffed. "Just go away. I don't want you here."

"I'm not gonna leave just 'cause you told me to, dude. I'm your friend and-"

"Friend? I don't want friends... I don't **need** friends." Arthur turned away. "Just go."

"Fine. But I'll be back. I want to be your friend. I understand that you don't want me around right now. I can respect that. But I'm too stubborn to not come back and try again."

Arthur heard Alfred's footsteps get farther and farther away before turning back around. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Arthur that was your chance at making a new friend. The 'human' friend you always wanted." Flying Mint Bunny said.

"But I can **not** trust him."

"Don't worry Arthur, I _know_ that you could trust him." FMB said just before flying away.

* * *

I honestly don't know the names of the "mythical creatures" Arthur talks to in the actually anime. So I'm sorry. I am also sorry for the 2 week update delay. I think it's been 2 weeks at least. I was supposed to update weekly but being a writer is difficult because you gotta _think._ *Insert gif of the gears in Patrick's head starting to turn* That's a spongebob reference if you don't get it. But yeah I'm sorry. I'll try to update weekly.

So have a lovely day or night.


	3. Chapter 3

"What did he mean? Why is Flying Mint Bunny so sure that Alfred is trustable. He knows what those other bloody people did." Arthur pondered aloud.

He was lying on his comfortable twin size mattress staring at the ceiling. He sighed and turned over onto his stomach and came face to face with his galaxy print bed sheets. He grabbed his lap top and opened it to check his email and start on his homework.

"Let's see... spam... spam... Facebook... new follower... Amazon..." He went down all his emails deleting each one. "God dammit there are too many emails." Seeing how there is over 300 emails he just gave up and pulled out a planner from his book bag. "How does it even get that bad?" He muttered.

He closed out of that tab and opened a new one with Google docs on it. "Write a story..." He began reading but before he could finish his phone buzzed. He grabbed his phone and saw that he actually had a message. Confused, he sat up and looked at the message from this unknown number.

 _-hey artie u wanna hang out sometime_ _how about today unless ur busy then what about tomorrow_

Arthur was appalled by the terrible grammar and spelling and the fact that they called him _Artie._

 _-Who is this?_

He replied.

-a _lfred remember_

Arthur thought for a moment. When did he give Alfred his number? Arthur shrugged and put down his phone. 'Just pretend like you didn't get the message,' he thought. Going back to what he-

His phone buzzed again. And again. And again... and again. Arthur grabbed his phone frustrated by all the message notifications.

\- _i know u got my messages_

 _\- stop ignoring me_

 _-artie pls_

 _\- read my tEXTS_

Arthur quickly replied before Alfred could write another text.

 _\- Fine. What do you want?_

 _\- to hang out_

Arthur sighed.

- _Fine._

 _\- yay! ill be over in a couple mins_

"Wait. What?" Arthur whisper yelled. "But I'm home alone and I've not done homework yet and... why am I saying this and not texting it?" He looked at the time. "Almost 1:30..."

He stood up from his bed and sighed. He walked to the bathroom that was right across the hall. "Jesus, I look like a mess." He said looking into the mirror. His hair was everywhere, eyebrows not on fleek. "I shouldn't get back into bed after lunch. But I do enjoy lazy Saturdays." He chuckled. "Oh almost forgot that bloody git was coming over."

After fixing his hair and brows he went into the kitchen to make himself some Chai tea. As he was waiting for the water to boil the door bell rang.

"That was kind of... fast. How does he even know where I live?" He said realizing that he never told Alfred where he lived. He answered the door.

"Yo." Alfred greeted. "Nice pajamas. A onseie with the socks on them. Get it from the thrift shop?" He said referencing Macklemore.

"What?" Arthur looked down realizing that he never changed out of his pjs. He blushed from embarrassment. "No. Why would I get them from a thrift shop?" He clearly didn't understand the reference.

Alfred laughed and walked into the kitchen. Closing the door and following him, Arthur checked on the boiling water that was left on the gas stove. It wasn't quite at boiling point but it was good enough. He took the tea pot off the stove and poured some water into the mug that was ready prior to this. He turned the stove off. As he was waiting for the tea to sift out of the small pouch he turned to Alfred.

"How do you know where I live. I don't recall telling you? Why do you want to be my friend so badly, as well? I am sure there are a ton of other people that would want to be your friend. And-"

"Because." Alfred cut him off. "I know your brother and he told me where you live. And believe or not nobody desperately wants to be my friend." He crossed his arms and leaned on the counter. "Is it so hard to believe that I want to be YOUR friend?"

"Yes." Arthur blatantly replied.

"Well I do." Alfred stopped leaning on the counter and walked over to the fridge opening it and searching through all it's contents.

"I am pretty sure you're not supposed to start stealing food the first time you're over at a person's house."

"I'm hungry. Can I go through all the food you got?" Alfred asked sarcastically.

Arthur glared at him and grabbed his mug, moving the tea bag around before taking it and throwing it out. He watched Alfred closely as he rearranged the fridge looking for food.

Alfred sighed after a while and finally just settled on some yogurt. "There's no food here."

"You didn't even check the cabinets."

"Oh... forgot about those." He looked at them for a moment. "Whatever." He then opened each drawer looking for a spoon for his yogurt. "Where are your- Found them!"

Arthur rolled his eyes, left the kitchen, and flopped onto the sofa in his living room. Alfred followed and sat down next to him.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something?" Arthur asked turning on Netflix. _'Netflix and chill? Oh god no I hope he doesn't think that.'_ Arthur internally hoped. He side glanced at Alfred.

"Sure. Whatever's good." Alfred shrugged eating the Strawberry Banana flavored yogurt.

Arthur struggled to keep his eyes on the TV as he searched for something to watch.

"D-do you want to watch Bob's Burgers?" Arthur internally face-palmed. He said the first thing he saw listed. He hasn't ever even _heard_ of Bob's Burgers before.

"I love that show! Yeah, dude, let's watch it!"

' _He seems excited'_ Arthur thought. He played the first episode and watched as Alfred's eyes glowed. He looked like a puppy that was just given a five-pound steak. He blushed. ' _Why am I staring at him?'_ He shook his head and turned towards the screen.


	4. Chapter 4

Arthur yawned. He was never kept up this late before. They already watched two and a half seasons of Bob's Burgers.

"What time is it?" Alfred asked yawning as well.

Arthur checked the time. "1:13."

"Looks like I'm sleeping over!" Alfred shouted.

"Shhhhh. People are sleeping... And no you're not. You're leaving. I said you could hang out not sleepover." Arthur frantically whispered. He really didn't want Alfred around.

"Aww... Come on. Please?"

Arthur shook his head no.

Please, please, PLEASE?"

Arthur shook his head again.

Alfred gave him the puppy dog eyes. The Brit struggled to maintain his composure but he refused to look at the whining baby next to him.

"Fine." Arthur huffed. "I'll go get you a pillow and a blanket and you can sleep on the couch."

"The couch? Alone?" Alfred looked genuinely terrified. "Can't I sleep on the floor in your room?"

"No." Arthur stated promptly as he walked over to the linen closet in the hallway.

Arthur threw the blanket and pillow at Alfred and walked to his room.

* * *

Arthur was woken up by arms being wrapped around him. He turned his head and looked at who was spooning him.

"Alfred, get out!" He whisper yelled, not knowing what time it was.

After Alfred didn't wake up, Arthur fully turned around and pushed Alfred off the bed.

"I'm awake!" Alfred shouted.

Arthur shushed him and sat up. "Why are you in my bed? I told you to stay in the living room. What time is it anyway?" He looked around. It was still dark outside.

Alfred got up from the floor and looked at his phone squinting at the brightness. "... Just past 4am. I got scared. I heard that your house was haunted and I didn't want to be alone, dude. That's terrifying!"

"Who told you that?"

"Allistor."

"Well our house is not haunted. Ghosts don't even exist."

"That's what you think." Alfred mumbled. "Have you ever even seen a ghost?"

Arthur tried not to show how done he was. "Good night." He simply said and lied back down facing towards the wall.

"Aw... Good night..."

Arthur listened as Alfred walked out of the room, closing the door as he left.

Arthur got up again. He couldn't go back to sleep. It's just how it works. He pulled out a laptop from the bag that was sitting next to his bed and opened it.

"I could delete all these fucking emails 'till I fall asleep... Or... I could watch Harry Potter." He suggested to himself. "Well, OBVIOUSLY, I'm going to watch Harry Potter." He laughed but quickly shut himself up realizing how loud he was.

* * *

Alfred lied awake on the couch pondering what to do now. His stomach grumbled and he grumbled along with it.

"That's right... I didn't eat dinner... or lunch." He sat up and grabbed the TV remote.

He turned on the TV and then left to the kitchen. He looked through cabinets and the fridge. Over and over again like something new was going to appear. Nothing changed much to his dismay. After ten minutes of scavenging he finally settled on a sandwich. He went back to the living room and sat down. He started flipping through the channels until he found something interesting. He stopped on South Park.

"You got spikes man!" Tweek had told Craig during their fake breakup.

Alfred started laughing when they started playing "Say Something." He tried so hard to keep it down but he couldn't even keep it in.

* * *

3am was when they both fell asleep again. Arthur in front of his laptop and Alfred on the couch.

When Arthur woke up he saw the laptop that had fallen over onto the floor probably from when he was sleeping. He picked it up checking for any damage and then checked the time. It was 11:58. He yawned as he got up and walked to the bathroom. After he finished with his morning business he walked to the kitchen to get himself some breakfast. Alfred wasn't there. Arthur didn't care though. He was glad that he was gone. Alfred was just a pain in his ass.

After breakfast he went back to his room to do his homework.

"Finally." He sighed with relief. "I can finally do my work."

* * *

A/N This chapter is a lot shorter than the other chapters and I apologize for that it's just that I'm going through massive writer's block on this story. I just wanted to give you guys SOMETHING

also I can't thank you enough for reading and following and reviewing my story. 3


	5. Chapter 5

Monday at school was strange. It was the same as any other day but it was still different. Arthur couldn't quite put his finger on why. It seemed that something new had come up. A new rumor. He didn't hear it until someone asked him about it. Someone actually talked to him today. That was strange on it's own but what they asked just straight up baffled Arthur.

"Are you dating anyone?"

Arthur was at a loss for words. He didn't know what to say. He didn't even understand the question. Before he finally thought of something to say Alfred showed up and tugged at his arm.

"Hey, let's go get some lunch!"

Arthur nodded before leaving.

After that the whispers changed from "Is he dating anyone?" to "I wonder who would date him."

With Alfred's persistent nature Arthur finally gave up in pushing him away. It was clear that the American was not there to hurt him or mortify him. So Arthur just let him do what he wanted. Alfred wasn't as bad of a guy as Arthur made him out to be. He was caring and just a huge nerd. Weeks went by. The bullies stopped torturing the Brit a long time ago by now. Actually, they seemed kind of scared. Arthur chose to just brush it off as another gag. During lunch Alfred and Arthur sat in the library secretly eating. Food wasn't allowed in the library. Arthur was told that many times before but that didn't stop him.

"Why were you so persistent in being my friend?" Arthur asked.

"Why? Because... You're different. I feel like everyone else at this school are only pretending. You're true to yourself. You don't try to change just to be friends with other people." Alfred explained.

Arthur was silent, contemplating that explanation. _He doesn't know. I have tried to change. I've tried so many times before. I just gave up. He came too late to see that. But hey, I'm not complaining._ "It's nice to have a friend." He accidentally whispered out loud.

"Yeah it is!" The American agreed.

Arthur's face flushed red. "Wait, I said that out loud?"

Alfred smiled and nodded. "MMhm."

"Oh god."

The bell rang for 6th period. Both of them got up from where they were sitting and left, saying their goodbyes and going their separate ways.

* * *

After school, when Arthur got home, Allistor started interrogating him.

"So I heard you have a new friend?"

Allistor was the only one who knew about Arthur's situation. Not because Arthur would tell him but because Allistor is a nosey piece of shit (in Arthur's eyes).

"Leave me alone." Arthur retorted.

"I'm hurt." Allistor clutched his chest as the sarcasm spewed out. "So what's their name? Is it a girl?" He wiggled his eyebrows.

Arthur just ignored him and kept walking to his room.

His brother sighed. "Fine. Well do you want to come with me and mom? We're going on a few errands."

"No thanks."

"Suit yourself. Oh and Dylan is at a friend's house so you're home alone again." Allistor left.

Arthur decided to do his homework. It wasn't much. Just a couple of worksheets and some reading. His phone buzzed after he finished his homework. It was Alfred.

- _Hey i got into a fight with my mom and cant be in the house rn can i go to ur place?_

 _-I guess._

About thirty minutes later Alfred arrived with take out.

"You bought food?" Arthur asked puzzled.

"Yeah I got hungry and thought 'why not buy Artie some food too?'"

Arthur cringed. He never liked that nickname Alfred had given him. He wanted to ask why he had a fight with his mom but that would be rude and Alfred would end up telling him anyway. Alfred set the food down on the counter and pulled out two burgers and fries and two medium drinks.

"They have this new iced tea that I thought you would like so I got it for you... Here you go." Alfred handed one of the drinks to Arthur.

"Thank you."

"No problem, dude."

* * *

/Sorry for all the late updates and this short chapter. I've been feeling really out of it lately. But my New Years resolution is to be able to get my motivation back and keep up with my stories. Thanks for reading./


	6. Chapter 6

Arthur and Alfred somehow managed to get from watching movies and chatting to doing improv and acting out scenes from different movies and plays.

"Oh Romeo wherefore are thou Romeo." Arthur was playing the part of olden times Juliet.

"Um? Excuse me? I don't quite understand exactly what you're saying. English please." Alfred was playing the part of a modern day Romeo. "Juliet. I think this ain't gonna work. I mean there's this hottie down street and-"

"So you're cheating on me?!"

"No! I, uh- shit! Gotta run, see ya!" Alfred pretended to run away.

They both busted out laughing, falling on the floor next to each other. They took a moment to catch their breath. Alfred got up. He had a serious look on his face. He turned around and looked at Arthur. Arthur just stared up at him.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"Arthur." Alfred took a deep breath. "I... I kind of... have a crush on you." He admitted.

Arthur's face flushed a deep red. "W-what?" He honestly had no idea how to respond. "I-"

"Oh god I just made things awkward didn't I? I could leave and give you space to think about it. I... understand if you don't even want to be friends with me anymore either." Alfred turned away with a sad look and started walking away.

"Wait." Arthur grabbed Alfred's hand then got up still holding the hand. "It's fine. You could stay."

Alfred looked down at the hand that was grabbing his own and Arthur quickly let go. His face getting redder and he started stumbling over his own words. "I um... S-sorry." It was silent for a moment. "I feel the same way." The words got quieter as it was said.

Alfred's face lit up. "Really? Will you... go out with me then?"

Arthur nodded.

Alfred pulled him into a hug. "That's great."

They stood there for a while. Just enjoying each others' company. Then Alfred pulled away and put his hand on Arthur's face, cupping his cheek. The Brit leaned into the touch. Alfred leaned his face close to Arthur's and closed his eyes. He stopped part way there. Arthur took that as asking for consent and closed the gap himself. The kissed for what Arthur wanted to be an eternity but was only about 20 seconds. They pulled apart and smiled at each other.

"So... When's that date?" Arthur asked, chuckling.

Alfred thought for a moment. "Hmm. How about... Right now!" He grabbed Arthur's hand and led him towards the door. He was practically skipping. "'Where' is the question we should be asking."

"That's true. Where do we go?"

"Dude, how 'bout a movie?"

"Depends on what's showing... But I guess it doesn't really matter right now."

They walked into the theater together, Arthur's hand still in Alfred's.

"How about that one? 'Two Stars'?" Arthur suggested. He said the first movie he saw that was being advertised in a promotional poster.

"Sure, dude. Whatever you want." Alfred smiled.

"Okay." Arthur walked up to the lady behind the counter. "Two tickets to Two Stars, please."

The woman looked confused.

"Um... Okay. Your total is..." She pushed some buttons on the cash register and then went to grab the tickets. "$22." She handed Arthur the tickets while he handed her the money. "Theater 3 on your left. Enjoy your movie, sir."

"Thank you."

They both went inside and bought a bucket of popcorn. Then went to theater three and found a seat in the back. The room was pretty empty. There were two or three other groups of people. Two people in a group at the very least. A couple people looked at Arthur and then exchanged weird looks. The Brit was confused he looked at Alfred who didn't seem to care. But he noticed Arthur's worried look.

"Just ignore them." Alfred smiled.

The movie began playing and everyone quieted down.

* * *

I'm terribly sorry you guys. I have been in a terrible slump and I lost all my motivation to do anything so I'm really trying to get back on my feet but I have to do it little by little. There have been quite a few problems involving my family and separate problems with "friends." So again I apologize that this is such a short chapter but the updates will be very slow and the chapters would probably be very short from now on. I'm so sorry.


	7. Chapter 7

"That movie was pretty bad." Arthur chuckled as the lights came back on the movie credits rolled. He yawned and stood up looking to the seat next to him. "Alfred?" The seat was empty all that was left was the remnants of the popcorn they dropped during the film.

Arthur gathered their stuff and walked outside of the theater room to search for Alfred.

He was no where in sight.

"I knew it..." Arthur muttered. He cursed under his breath. Out of frustration he squeezed the half empty cup of soda they had making the drink overflow and spill over the sides onto his hand. He stared at the soda dripping down his arm before throwing out the now mutilated cup and grabbing some napkins. His face now in a constant glare.

His arm was now sticky, though. He sighed and walked into the bathroom washing his arm with soap and water. There wasn't anyone in the bathroom. Besides being physically alone now, he felt emotionally alone. Abandoned even. Tears started welling in his eyes. He cupped his hands under the faucet and splashed his face with water, trying hard to not break down in the movie theater. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about what happened and steadied his breath. Finally, he took a deep breath, grabbed the bucket of popcorn, and walked out, walking straight home, keeping his head down.

When he opened the door he was automatically greeted by his brother.

"Where were you?" Dylan asked. "You're so lucky that mom isn't back yet. She would have torn up the town lookin' for ya! Probably drag the police in, too."

Arthur was silent. He closed the door behind him and just stood staring at the floor.

"I was at the theater." He practically whispered. He meandered past Dylan and went towards his room.

"Alone?"

Arthur stopped walking clearly tense at the question. It was one measly word but it was enough to trigger a plethora of bad memories. Everything with Alfred and... He clenched his fists and, more angrily, stomped to his room, slamming the door after entering. He flopped face first onto his bed and lied that way for a while. He tried to think of other things but his mind kept wandering to his life back in Britain.

"Mum, said life would get better for me here..." He whispered aloud.

He turned over to his side and closed his eyes trying to visualize the day they came to America.

"Sweetie," Arthur's mom smiled softly, "I just received a call from my boss. He's permanently transferring me to America. Life would get better not only for me but for you and your brothers, as well. It's good to have a change of scenery. New opportunities await. The States are a nice place. Trust me, you'll love it."

Arthur smiled, relieved that he'll finally be gone from that horrid school and those awful people he used to trust. "Really?" He said it a bit more enthusiastically than what he meant for. "When?"

"This summer!"

Arthur's shoulders slumped. He had been hoping to move sooner. Summer was too far away. It just gave _them_ more time to bully him.

His mom's phone rang. "Oh, I have to take this." She winked at Arthur. "Remember to do your homework." She chuckled and answered the phone.

Arthur walked to his room and sat down at his desk pulling out a key and unlocking one of the drawers, revealing a stack of worn out diaries. he picked up the first one and opened it to the final blank pages. He grabbed a pen and scribbled down the events of that day. He paused for a moment, staring at the page he had written. He took a deep breath before writing down:

 _"I think I'll stop keeping a diary. Writing things that happened to me has been my way of venting and just writing down my thoughts, but... In America, no one knows me. It'll be my chance to make friends that I can talk to about these things. I won't need to write them down or keep them bottled up anymore. I'll finally be happy? Maybe._

 _So this will be my final diary entry. I guess this is goodbye."_

Arthur put down the pen and looked at the words he had written for a final time. He decided to look through his entries, so he could reminisce on the past before placing them into a box to be forgotten about for a long time to come.

He pulled out the rest of the diaries. There were only about five in total. The first one was from 6th grade. The very first entry read:

 _"So I'm starting a diary. Oh wait I was supposed to start with "Dear diary" wasn't I. Whoops. I guess I'll do that next time._

 _I should start with why I started a diary in the first place. Well about a year ago I started seeing things? "Imaginary" beings as one would call it. I told my mom about the creatures I was seeing and she took me to a doctor for some reason. He said it could be just imaginary friends but I insisted that they were there. And it's true. They're real. The doctor whispered something to my mom that I couldn't hear but the doctor prescribed my mom some things and we went home._

 _Anyway, I told my friends that I was seeing these cool looking creatures but they all laughed at me and said that I was too old for imaginary friends._

 _None of them wanted to hang out with someone as childish as me._

 _So they left._

 _Now I'm alone. I don't really have anyone to talk to since rumors spread really fast. So that's why I started this diary!"_

Arthur skimmed through the rest of the pages. Nothing of interest really happened in sixth grade.

He picked up the second diary. Seventh grade was pretty uneventful as well. He just flipped through the pages until something fell out. He held the page with his thumb and picked up the picture that fell out. It was him. A school picture. He was alone in the photo, though he doesn't remember being alone. He remembers being with someone but he doesn't remember who exactly. Arthur place the picture down and read the entry.

 _"Dear diary,_

 _Today was school picture day. He was with me today again and we took the picture together. For some reason the photographer didn't mind two people being in one photo. It was fun. He said he had to go right after the photo though so I was kind of lonely for the rest of the day. But no worries! I get to see him again tomorrow."_

The rest of the entry just described what happened afterwards. Who was "he," though? Arthur slowly flipped through the pages before. A lot of it spoke of "him" but none said his name. Arthur shook his head and placed the book and photograph on the desk. He picked up the eighth grade on and began flipping through those pages.

Finally he reached the ninth grade diary. Arthur took a deep breath remembering what had happened that year. He opened it and flipped to the day that has burned itself in his memories. His eyes traversed the tear stained page as he read carefully.

 _"Dear fucking diary,_

 _I am never trusting anyone ever again. Remember the asshole that I was ogling about in my previous entries? Let me summarize those for you:_

 _I met this guy named Angus. He was one of the popular kids so I was a bit skeptical about talking to him. But this handsome mother fucker is a backstabbing bitch. He pretended to be my friend even flirting a little bit because somehow everyone found out that I was gay even though I didn't come out yet. I developed feelings for him and this is where we are now._

 _Today, I thought, "You know? Maybe I should tell my friend that I'm gay. He seems like he'll be cool with it. But I won't tell him about my feelings, oh nooo." So I fucking told him. And this asshole pretends to like me back and just spits lies in my face._

 _His friends were recording the whole thing._

 _They laughed._

 _"Fag," they called me._

 _Spread the video everywhere tagging it with homophobic hate speech._

 _I ran home. I didn't care that school wasn't over yet. I just didn't want to be there anymore. I want to die."_

More tears splattered onto the page as Arthur relived the worst moment in his life. He remembered that he hadn't gone to school for a couple weeks after. It was a miracle he got into tenth grade.

Arthur closed the diary. He looked at the final tenth grade one and decided that it'd be best not to read the entries. Things did not get better that's for sure. He placed all the diaries back into the drawer and locked it. That would be the last time he would ever look at them until he would place them into a box when packing up his things for the move to America.

Arthur groggily opened his eyes. He had accidentally fallen asleep while remembering the past. He was thoughtless for a second before remembering the photo he found that day. His eyes grew wide and he shot up from bed. He momentarily got dizzy at the sudden movement but he ignored it, grabbing his phone and looking at the time. It was 4am. He rushed over to the attic and pulled down the ladder. He pulled up the flashlight app on his phone and climbed into the attic looking for the box that contained his things. Once he found it he opened it up and pulled out the seventh grade school photo. He stared at it for a while contemplating who could he have thought was in that photo with him.

"It couldn't have been any of the mythical beings if he blended in like a... regular... student..." Realization struck him. "No..."

He thought of the time that Alfred first showed up in class. He thought of the feeling of Deja vu that had crept up on him during that time.

Alfred isn't imaginary, is he? No... He can't be.. He just _can't._

Arthur shoved the photo into his pocket and climbed back down the ladder. He closed the up attic and walked to the kitchen, turning on the lights. He placed the photo onto the counter and leaned against it, placing his face into his hands, finally letting the tears go. He sobbed for God knows how long.

He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and sniffled.

"Wait... I'm not schizophrenic like the doctor thought since the medication didn't work. So that means they _must_ be real, right?" Arthur laughed, tears still streaming down his face and nose still clogged. He furrowed his eyebrows. "Right?..." He said somberly looking down at the photo once more.

Flying Mint Bunny appeared. "Arthur, are you okay? What happened?"

"Not now."

"Hm." FMB looked at the photo and back at Arthur. "I remember that photo! You were with that ghost boy, Alfred!"

"Ghost?" Arthur looked up at FMB.

"Poor Alfred doesn't know he's dead."

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Arthur, why are you yelling? It's like 4 in the morning. Go to sleep!" Dylan sleepily said from the kitchen entryway.

Arthur looked at Dylan then back at FMB who flew away laughing. "Ah, sorry, Dylan."

His brother walked over to the fridge with a cup pouring himself some milk and yawning. He leaned on the counter across from Arthur and spotted the photo.

"I remember this photo..." He took a sip of milk. "Hm, I guess Alfred didn't show up after all." He shrugged. "Well, I'm going back to sleep." He left before Arthur could question him.

Arthur sighed. "So he is... well, _was_ real." He took the picture and placed it back in his pocket walking out of the kitchen and back to his room. He showered and climbed back into his bed, content with knowing that the people and creatures he sees that other people don't, are, in fact, real.

He didn't go back to sleep after that, he couldn't. Instead he just played games on his phone until the sun rose.

* * *

 **A/N** Was that an abrupt ending? If so tell me and I'll make an extra chapter to finish it off. Sorry it's been so long. I actually had to force myself to finish this since I had the motivation but lacked the inspiration. Again I am super sorry you guys. Please forgive me.

I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for reading.


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